Fan guard



Patented Oct. 2l, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturin g Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of vania Pennsyl Application September 14, 1938, Serial No. 229,812

(Cl. 23o-274) 4 Claims.

My invention relates to a guard construction for a motor-driven fan and has for an object to provide an improved construction of this kind.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved guard for a fan which may be readily manufactured and assembled to the fan structure.

'I'hese and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in accordance with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which the single figure of the drawing is a perspective view of afan guard constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention.

Reference will now be had to the drawing wherein I have shown my improved guard, generally indicated at III, applied to a fan construction including a motor II having a rotatable shaft I2 and blades I3 rotatable with the shaft I2. The motor is provided with yan end bell I4 of conventional construction in which the shaft I2 is journaled. The motor II may be supported in any well known manner; a support for the motor being partially shown at 9.

In accordance with my invention, the guard I0 isformed of two parts I5 and I6, the former defining a guard support and the lattera guard cage encompassing the blades I3. The guard support I5 is preferably formed of wire of suitable gauge so that a plurality of radially extending arms I1 are defined, each of which arms I1 is provided with a hook or clip I8 at the outer end thereof. Preferably, the clips I8 are integral with the arms Il and are formed by bending the ends of the wire defining the arms I1 as shown. 'I'he portions of the wire defining the inner ends of the arms I'I are looped, as shown at I9, for receiving mounting screws 2I which are preferably threaded in the end bell I4 but which may be threaded in other suitable portions of the fan construction.

The guard cage I6 is preferably formed of round wire of suitable gauge and includes a ring 22 and a plurality of cage wires 23 secured thereto in any well known manner, such as, for example, by welding. In assembling the cage I6 to the support I5, the ring 22 is bowed and forced into the clips I 8, it being understood that both the ring 22 and the arms I'I are sufliciently resilient to permit this operation. When as sembled, the ring 22 biases the clips I8 and arms I1 inwardly and is, therefore, carried in a substantially rigid manner.v The clips I 8 are so formed that the ring 22 may be readily forced therein 55 and are biased suiiicie'ntly to prevent dislodgment of the ring in service.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided an improved two-piece fan guard construction, wherein the guard cage is secured to its support without the useof separate fastening devices. My improved two-piece fan guard construction may be economically manufactured and, in the event of damage to the cage 23 in service. replacementvmay bel more economically and readily effected than where a one-piece guard construction is employed. The support for the guard cage is shown carried by the fan motor end bell but it will be understood that it may be carried by other suitable portions of the fan construction. The specic form of clips for effecting the connection between the cage and support are shown by way of example and it is to be understood that other suitable forms of clips may be employed.

While I have shown my invention in but one forml it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible of various changes and modications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a guard construction for a fan having a motor and fan blades driven thereby, the combination of a plurality of guard support arms extending in a generally radial direction and attached at their inner` ends to said motor, said arms at their outer ends having transversely extending portions formed with recessesopening radially outwardly, and a guard cage for encompassing the fan blades and including a ring adapted to seat in said recesses, said ring being resilient to permit it tobe seated in and withdrawn from said recesses by springing the same so that the cage may be mounted on the support arms without separate fastening devices, said ring biasing said transversely-extending portions radially inwardly, at least partly by reason of its resilience, so that it is held firmly in place.

y 2. A guard construction as set forth in claim 1, wherein the guard support arms are formed of wire, adjacent arms being integrally connected by looped portions of the wire by means of which said arms are attatched to said motor.

3. A guard construction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said recesses are formed by deforming the arms.

4. In a guard construction for a fan having a motor and fan blades driven thereby, the combination of a plurality of guard support arms extending in a generally radial direction and attached at their inner ends to said motor. said 5 arms at their outer ends having transversely extending portions formed with recesses opening radially outwardly, and a guard cage for encompassing the i'an blades and including a resilient 'Gos'rsv n. KOCH. 

